It is tough to sing while you play the bass

[Orion1985]

Take this with a grain of salt as I only sing a bit of backup and can only sing and play a couple songs, but the best advice that I think I’ve heard on the topic is that it’s not about learning to do two things at once, it’s learning the single act of playing and singing. In other words, you are learning to use your hands and voice to perform one thing. I’ve heard the advice about learning each individual thing until you can do it in your sleep, put it on autopilot, and then do both. But I think it has more to do with working out how the two things mesh and getting comfortable with it. I hope that makes some sense, I think it’s helped me to do what I’ve been able to do.

 

[Garret Wheeler]

I have recently started singing in my band. I have to be selective about the songs I choose to sing on. The bass line rarely follows the vocal melody and marrying the two can be super challenging. I have never had a problem playing rhythm guitar and singing. One of the most talented musicians I know (who can smoke almost any instrument) says the bass is the hardest instrument to play while singing. Who out there agrees?

I agree. I got lucky that in my first band nobody was willing to sing. That lead to me stepping up and becoming the sole vocalist. It was very challenging, and my singing definitely suffered at first, but it made me a much better musician in the long run. Nowadays I rarely have to think about it, but there is some stuff that can get pretty tricky. Speed isn't an issue for me as long as the rhythm of the bass part is constant. If the rhythms of the two parts are syncopated in totally different ways it can become really difficult to play and sing at the same time. For covers it can be one of those things where you just have to choose your battles- try to play the bass part note for note and cause your singing to suffer, or play a simplified bass part and sing well. For bands that want to sound exactly like the original artist that could be an issue, but I've never been in a band where they weren't cool with me changing the bass part if it allowed me to nail the vocals.

 

[Wasnex]

Take this with a grain of salt as I only sing a bit of backup and can only sing and play a couple songs, but the best advice that I think I’ve heard on the topic is that it’s not about learning to do two things at once, it’s learning the single act of playing and singing. In other words, you are learning to use your hands and voice to perform one thing. I’ve heard the advice about learning each individual thing until you can do it in your sleep, put it on autopilot, and then do both. But I think it has more to do with working out how the two things mesh and getting comfortable with it. I hope that makes some sense, I think it’s helped me to do what I’ve been able to do.

Yes, this is big part of the secret. It helps if you read music and can write out the individual parts so you can see how everything fits together. Then you can slow the hard sections down and work out how everything links together.

IMHO one aspect of playing bass that adds to the difficulty is the amount of after touch we use to shape and control notes. With a rythm guitar part we often just strum the notes and let them decay naturally. In contrast, a good bass player shapes the decay/cutoff of almost every note.

Your use of after touch probably happens almost automatically when you are just playing, so you hardly ever think of it. But when you try to sing, it suddenly seems incredibly difficult to keep track of all the little nuanced things you have to do to make the bass line sound right.

 

[Auspuff]

You can either multi-task, or you can't.

I've personally never had a problem with the subject.

 

[eloann]

It's hard at first but can very much be learned.

When a part gives me trouble I slow it waaay down and figure out the rhythm first without necessarily worrying about vocal technique (that sometimes mean singing an octave lower). Back in the day when it wasn't enough I used to write the bass and vocal line on top of each other on a score to visualise what syllable goes over (or in between) what bass notes.

 

[jamro217]

It's probably hard to sing and play any instrument that goes against the vocal line. Drums are hard enough to play with all your limbs in motion, singing on top of that is tough. I do think bass is hard to sing with because of the natural separation between rhythms.

 

[John Webb]

....caint do it.

 

[flannel cat]

its a pain in the a$$ but i remember a time when i couldnt play my acoustic guitar and sing at the same time to save my life,but one day it started to happen,and now im fairly comfortable with it..
now bass and singing thats still a work in progress,and though im progressing at it, its not coming as fast as i want. its tricky playing notes and singing and i salute anyone that can do that..
I would like to add my bass playing and playing harmonica at the same time is coming along better than lead vocals,but its a tricky slope to navigate as well...Cheers.

 

[Hypercaffium]

I played guitar for more than 20 years and I still do. I've always been able to sing while playing chords and riffs on the guitar, but somehow I can't while playing bass lines. I never tried hard to be honest, but it seems more difficult to me.

 

[soundsupport1]

You have to prioritise one over the other. Geddy was asked how he does it, and he responded that the singing is what he's thinking about, the bass part is memorised and pure muscle memory. He doesn't really think about the bass at all unless he's practising.

Peace,
SoundSupport

 

[Hypercaffium]

You have to prioritise one over the other. Geddy was asked how he does it, and he responded that the singing is what he's thinking about, the bass part is memorised and pure muscle memory. He doesn't really think about the bass at all unless he's practising.

Peace,
SoundSupport

Yes, but he's always been able to provide great dynamics with the bass while singing. That's hard, imho.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I have recently started singing in my band. I have to be selective about the songs I choose to sing on. The bass line rarely follows the vocal melody and marrying the two can be super challenging. I have never had a problem playing rhythm guitar and singing. One of the most talented musicians I know (who can smoke almost any instrument) says the bass is the hardest instrument to play while singing. Who out there agrees?

I don’t know about anybody else, but I can’t do it without compromising the quality of my bass work. I have a good voice, but as a 2nd bass (vocal), there isn’t much use for it unless I’m in a Sha Na Na cover band. Things can get rather unpleasant when I get over E above middle C.

 

[DirtDog]

I did lead vox and bass in one band for a year or two. We played country and rock so it wasn’t too hard once I got rolling. But it wasn’t natural at all when I started despite being able to sing and play guitar or sing back up vox and play bass. I had to adapt my bass playing for sure. And I played with a pick, always.

 

[Max Bogosity]

For me it depends a lot on the rhythm of the bass line. If it’s just straight quarter or eights notes, that’s relatively straightforward. If it’s more complicated, then I have to dissect the rhythm of the vocal and bass lines and learn which word aligns with which bass note (or rest.)

 

[chuck1073]

It's always a bit of a challenge. I like to really imbed the bass line into my head to the point where it almost becomes muscle memory. Then, I can concentrate on the vocal performance. Seems to work. In my Swing, Jazz, Blues gig some years ago, I was able to play upright and sing just fine.

 

[LowActionHero]

From what I understand, you keep trying and trying then have a breakthrough where it gets easier.

I'm not there yet...

 

[Bunk McNulty]

This has been up a long time, and it is as useful and helpful as ever.
Bassists Guide To Singing.

 

[Spirit of Ox]

I've been the lead singer and bassist in my band Zygote Theory for the past two years and it's pretty tricky. I have basslines that I can play blindfolded and singing over them isn't too bad but the newer songs rely on lots of practice.
The key is to be able to play the lines fluently without really looking at the fingerboard.
If you want to hear a lead singing bassist that will really blow your mind, check out Nomeansno.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

I disagree with your hypothesis, however...

The key is get your bass part down cold, so you can put it on auto pilot.
Vocals get really easy to deal with then.
You need to concentrate 100% on the singing part.

Oh yeah practice is of course the best way to improve.
Good luck,
Dirk

 

[rafunk]

IMHO it’ very important the rhythmic structure of the bass líne. If it’s a regular sequence of 8s, 16s, it’s no so hard. If there are syncopations like funk, reggae, rumba, and stuff like that to me it’s impossible. A lot to do with the right hand work.
For the rest, very agreed with practice, practice, practice.